Chill with Gill Cafe

For the last five years, Gill Henderson has been running supportive Yoga for Anxiety classes weekly on Mondays for Suicide Awareness. They are held at the Falls Road library.

West Belfast has the highest suicide rate in Northern Ireland, and anxiety is a leading factor in suicide risk.

“Yoga is good for the body, mind and soul,” said Gill. “I like to share with people that you can access deep  relaxation through breath work. And that is one of the best defences against anxiety.”

Gill began to realise that participants of her class needed more support. They were getting a lot out of the physical practice of Yoga, relaxation and breath work, but they didn’t have time to get to know and support one another. Also there were a lot of other people in the area who needed anxiety support but who wouldn’t necessarily come to a yoga class. Gill needed to find an alternative way to encourage those people to come along for support.

She decided to apply for the Bank of Ideas for a weekly Chill With Gill Cafe for people suffering from anxiety. This she hoped would provide people space to talk about their experience of anxiety and ways of alleviating it. 

It was the first time Gill had applied for funding for anything.  “I hadn’t realised it was a possibility for what I do,” she said.

Gill didn’t think she would get the votes needed, but knew the voting day would be a great way to get the word out about the yoga sessions anyway. The participants of Gill’s yoga group came along to support her idea, plus their family members.

“It was great to feel like part of Belfast 2024,” Gill said. “When I came into city hall, I was really impressed with the selection of groups and organisations. There was a skateboarding organisation; I had been looking for something for my nephew and didn’t realise there was something like that in Belfast.

“It was really good to be part of something that celebrates the side of Belfast a lot of people don’t get to see because of so much negative stuff seen in the news. To see the creativity that’s going on all around us, and all the people trying to provide opportunities and do things that haven’t been done before to help others around them have a better life - it was very special.”

One of the voters who stopped at Gill’s stall shared that she had recently lost her husband to suicide.

“If we hadn’t been at the stand on the voting day we wouldn’t have made that connection. I don’t know what brought them to the voting day, but we were able to give that lovely family support afterwards.”

Gill said there were so many good organisations on the day she didn’t think she had a chance of getting funded, and she was ecstatic when she heard they were successful.

Through the Bank of Ideas Gill has been able to provide yoga and meditation  equipment, and 14 Chill with Gill Cafe sessions for people with anxiety. Since the project started in early summer, several new people have joined the Monday yoga sessions in addition to the Thursday Chill with Gill cafe

The Cafe group shares advice about relaxation, and the benefits of various anxiety interventions. Gill said it started in the beginning just as having a cup of tea and some relaxation time, and it grew into a wider circle where people are able to share what works for them, and their personal stories if they want to. Gill shares research about the causes of anxiety, how to identify it, and what lifestyle changes can help people to cope with it. The sessions have grown since summer from 5 to about 10 people, so they are still small and friendly. There are a mixture of people from the Yoga class and those new to the organisation.

Gill sometimes covers the benefits of yoga and improving sleep patterns. She sometimes plays music and talks about how it can elevate mood or relax. She facilitates conversations around the themes in the uplifting songs. Sometimes the group reads aloud uplifting poetry and quotations and then they discuss all of the thoughts these pieces evoke.  She gives the example of Sri Chinmoy - 'when we are propelled by the power oif inner faith we can do the impossible'

She shares with the  group about the Take 5 framework to feel better - take 5 breaths, cook with 5 different super foods, take 5 minutes just to pause and meditate., be in nature for 5 minutes, listen to comedy and laughter for 5 minutes, etc. 

“We want the conversations to Inspire people beyond ‘It’s raining outside.’ We want to make it meaningful. Then naturally as a result of these facilitated chats, people start to talk about their personal experience. It has helped the group to bond. They are supporting each other, making friends, and the Yoga group’s friendships are now established at a much deeper level. Some are really struggling, and a week is a long time to wait between sessions when you have to deal with anxiety. They have been swapping numbers with each other so they can keep in touch through the week.”

The participants have all been asking for a continuation of the Cafe beyond the funded period.

”It’s a privilege to be able to touch people’s lives in this way,” said Gill. “It helps that I am able to talk on a personal level about the techniques that have helped me.”

Gill started practicing yoga in 1991 as a way to deal with her anxiety. She was an English and theatre studies teacher at the time.

“It was a very difficult and stressful job, but then I went to a yoga class - It was just a normal yoga class and it changed my life. I have had chronic anxiety myself, but Yoga helped me to feel relaxed at a very deep level. When I walked away from that first class I felt relaxed and rested in a way I hadn't felt since I was a child.”

Gill  left the teaching profession and shortly afterwards, her Yoga teacher suggested she could teach yoga insstead. So she  retrained as a yoga teacher in 2001 and has been teaching yoga ever since.